Iraqi Forces Research Articles

Iraq, 1990-2006: a diplomatic history through documents

Volume 1 Introduction 1. Prelude: U.S.-Iraqi relations prior to the Gulf War 2. August 1, 1990 to January 16, 1991: Iraq invades Kuwait 3. January 16, 1991 to February 27, 1991: the Gulf War 4. March 1-20, 1991: a failed uprising in the south 5. April 3, 1991 to August 22, 1995: Iraq fails to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions, mobilizes troops 6. November 10, 1995 to October 24, 1997: the U.N. and Iraq agree on terms for 'oil-for-food' program, Iraq gestures toward compliance with sanctions 7. October 29 to December 22, 1997: Iraq and U.N. engage one another over limits of access for weapons inspectors 8. January 12 to December 15, 1998: United Nations weapons inspectors leave Iraq 9. December 16-23, 1998: U.S. and U.K. mount 70-hour aerial assault on Iraqi military targets 10. January 1999 to August 2001: Saddam and the U.N. at a stalemate. Volume 2 Introduction 1. September 11-December 17, 2001: the September 11 attacks and their immediate aftermath 2. January 23-August 21, 2002: Bush administration redirects focus of 'war on terrorism' towards Iraq 3. August 26-October 10, 2002: 'the danger to our country is grave ...': the Bush administration presses Congress to authorize use of force in Iraq 4. October 10-November 7, 2002: Congress authorizes use of force, U.S. intensifies diplomatic efforts at the United Nations 5. November 8-December 18, 2002: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 affords Iraq a 'final opportunity' to comply with disarmament obligations 6. December 19, 2002-February 4, 2003: the U.S. declares Iraq to be in 'material breach' of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441, France and Germany lead opposition to military action as divisions among NATO allies sharpen 7. February 5-March 5, 2003: Secretary of State Powell brings the case against Saddam Hussein to the U.N. Security Council 8. March 6-19, 2003: the U.S. and U.K. put forth, then withdraw, a draft U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing war, Bush issues a 48-hour ultimatum. Volume 3 Introduction 1. March 19-May 2, 2003: war: U.S. and U.K. forces enter Iraq, remove Saddam Hussein from power 2. May 1-August 15, 2003: Bush announces end to 'major combat operations' coalition provisional authority assumes control 3. August 19-December 11, 2003: bombing of United Nations headquarters kills special envoy, attacks by insurgents intensify 4. December 14, 2003-June 27, 2004: Saddam Hussein captured 5. June 28, 2004-January 29, 2005: Iraq regains sovereignty 6. January 20, 2005-December 13, 2005: Iraqis hold national elections 7. December 15, 2005-April 30, 2006: bombing in Samarra escalates sectarian violence, Iraqi Interim Government cedes power to National Unity Government.

Strategic Interaction between Insurgents and U.S./Iraqi Forces in Iraq

Strategic Interaction between Insurgents and U.S./Iraqi Forces in Iraq

Environmental Health Insights into the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (BP) Oil Blowout

Environmental Health Insights into the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (BP) Oil Blowout

NATO's Vietnam? Afghanistan and the Future of the Atlantic Alliance

After the swift victory in conventional battle against Iraqi forces in March 2003, American forces fairly quickly encountered a growing insurgency movement which turned into an enormous political a...

Congress, MH Experts Address Stressors Facing Soldiers

Congress, MH Experts Address Stressors Facing Soldiers

Self-Perceptions of Soldiers Under Threat: A Field Study of the Influence of Death Threat on Soldiers

This study deals with the impact of actual death threat on self-perceptions of soldiers with regard to the acceptance of the risk of dying, their performance, and their motivation to engage in a mission. The results indicate that actual death threat has a significant effect on accessibility of death-related thoughts as well as on the self-perception of the soldiers' performance, motivation, and identification with the armed forces. This study, conducted among soldiers who were deployed with the Dutch Stabilization Force in Iraq in late 2004, supports the terror management theory that has been used as its framework.

Forging a Key, Turning a Lock: Counterinsurgency Theory in Iraq 2006–2008

Counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine is designed to combat a defined insurgency. In the present situation in Iraq, COIN's definition has been radically extended to include nation-building as well. This additional function has expanded the scope of the role of the Coalition Forces in Iraq. Yet COIN in its present incarnation may not be enough to finalize the implementation of the strategy of nation-building. This article finds three main criticisms/limitations of contemporary COIN strategy: (1) It is predicated on a classic notion of insurgency that looks very different from present conflicts. (2) Although COIN advocates a political solution to a political problem, it uses (by default) mainly military mechanisms to carry it out. (3) Completion of the intricate and ambitious tasks necessary to defeat insurgencies in foreign lands may lie outside the direct control of the United States.

The motivated use of moral principles

AbstractFive studies demonstrated that people selectively use general moral principles to rationalize preferred moral conclusions. In Studies 1a and 1b, college students and community respondents were presented with variations on a traditional moral scenario that asked whether it was permissible to sacrifice one innocent man in order to save a greater number of people. Political liberals, but not relatively more conservative participants, were more likely to endorse consequentialism when the victim had a stereotypically White American name than when the victim had a stereotypically Black American name. Study 2 found evidence suggesting participants believe that the moral principles they are endorsing are general in nature: when presented sequentially with both versions of the scenario, liberals again showed a bias in their judgments to the initial scenario, but demonstrated consistency thereafter. Study 3 found conservatives were more likely to endorse the unintended killing of innocent civilians when Iraqis civilians were killed than when Americans civilians were killed, while liberals showed no significant effect. In Study 4, participants primed with patriotism were more likely to endorse consequentialism when Iraqi civilians were killed by American forces than were participants primed with multiculturalism. However, this was not the case when American civilians were killed by Iraqi forces. Implications for the role of reason in moral judgment are discussed.

Transnational activists, news media representations, and racialized ‘politics of life’: the Christian Peacemaker Team kidnapping in Iraq

In late 2005, four antiwar activists with a group called Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) were kidnapped in Baghdad. Two of the men were identified as Canadian citizens, and the other two were an American and a Briton. In March 2006, after nearly four months in captivity, three of the men were rescued through a military operation involving British, American, Canadian, and Iraqi forces, and they were returned to their countries of residence. This essay explores the racialized privileges of Western citizenship status, and in particular, its deployment in transnational (referring to the physical crossing of national borders) interventions made by such activists. Moreover, this essay seeks to understand and reveal the vast distinction between those who carry the privilege of Western citizenship and those who do not, and the subversive possibilities within such asymmetrical power relations. By using media representations of this kidnapping as the focal point of the analysis, this essay explores how racialization and sexuality work together to construct both Western citizenship and national identity.

Beyond terror and martyrdom: the future of the Middle East

Since 2001, two dominant worldviews have clashed in the global arena: a neoconservative nightmare of an insidious Islamic terrorist threat to civilized life, and a jihadist myth of martyrdom through the slaughter of infidels. Across the airwaves and on the ground, an ill-defined and uncontrollable war has raged between these two opposing scenarios. Deadly images and threats - from the televised beheading of Western hostages to graphic pictures of torture at Abu Ghraib, from the destruction wrought by suicide bombers in London and Madrid to civilian deaths at the hands of American occupation forces in Iraq - have polarized populations on both sides of this divide. Yet, as the noted Middle East scholar and commentator Gilles Kepel demonstrates, President Bush's War on Terror masks a complex political agenda in the Middle East - enforcing democracy, accessing Iraqi oil, securing Israel, and seeking regime change in Iran. Osama bin Laden's call for martyrs to rise up against the apostate and hasten the dawn of a universal Islamic state papers over a fractured, fragmented Islamic world that is waging war against itself. Beyond Terror and Martyrdom sounds the alarm to the West and to Islam that both of these exhausted narratives are bankrupt - neither productive of democratic change in the Middle East nor of unity in Islam. Kepel urges us to escape the ideological quagmire of terrorism and martyrdom and explore the terms of a new and constructive dialogue between Islam and the West, one for which Europe, with its expanding and restless Muslim populations, may be the proving ground.

Mustard gas exposure and carcinogenesis of lung

Sulfur mustard (SM), also known as mustard gas, is an alkylating compound used as a chemical weapon in World War I and by Iraqi forces against Iranians and indigenous Iraqi Kurds during the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s. Although SM is a proven carcinogen there are conflicting views regarding the carcinogenicity of a single exposure. The present study characterizes lung cancers formed in mustard gas victims from the Iran–Iraq War. Methods and materials Demographic information and tumor specimens were collected from 20 Iranian male lung cancer patients with single high-dose SM exposures during the Iran–Iraq War. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded lung cancers were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for p53 protein. In addition, DNA was extracted from the tissues, PCR amplified and sequenced to identify mutations in the p53 and KRAS genes associated with SM exposure. Results A relatively early age of lung cancer onset (ranging from 28 to 73 with a mean of 48) in mustard gas victims, particularly those in the non-smoking population (mean age of 40.7), may be an indication of a unique etiology for these cancers. Seven of the 20 patients developed lung cancer before the age of 40. Five of 16 cancers from which DNA sequence data was obtainable provided information on eight p53 mutations (within exons 5–8). These mutations were predominately G to A transitions; a mutation consistent with the DNA lesion caused by SM. Two of the lung cancers had multiple p53 point mutations, similar to results obtained from factory workers chronically exposed to mustard agent. No mutations were detected in the KRAS gene. Discussion The distinguishing characteristics of lung carcinogenesis in these mustard gas victims suggest that a single exposure may increase the risk of lung cancer development in some individuals.

Unravelling the Extraterritorial Riddle: An Analysis of R (Hassan) v. Secretary of State for Defence

The European Convention on Human Rights imposes an obligation on contracting states to secure the rights of persons within their ‘jurisdiction’. Yet, the meaning of ‘jurisdiction’ is contested, with the result that the extent of states’ extraterritorial obligations is unclear. R (Hassan) v. Secretary of State for Defence is the latest in a series of English cases to examine the obligations of the British forces in Iraq. This comment critically assesses the High Court's reasoning, as well as the House of Lords’ decision in Al-Skeini on which it relies, and in so doing proposes a more nuanced understanding of ‘jurisdiction’.

Long-term rheumatologic complications of sulfur mustard in victims of Sardasht, Iran

Sulfur mustard (SM) is an alkylating agent used several times by Iraqi forces as a chemical warfare agent in the Iraq-Iran war (1980–1988). Eyes, skin and respiratory system are the most sensitive organs to SM exposure. This agent has a suppressor effect on the immune system. As we did not find any study on the late rheumatologic complications of SM in the exposed victims in literature, in this study we investigated these complications in Sardasht (Iran) civilians 20 years after exposure. In a cohort study, 370 victims of Sardasht (that divided into two groups: hospitalized, n = 167, and non hospitalized, 203) in comparison to 128 control subjects from Rabat (Iran). The chief rheumatologic complaints, the physical examinations, the most probable clinical diagnosis and the rheumatic laboratory tests were compared between the study groups. The chief complaint was lower extremity pain; the most frequent physical finding was widespread tenderness and the most frequent clinical diagnosis was psychogenic pain. Among laboratory tests, only anti nuclear antibody (ANA) had significantly higher titer in the hospitalized victims than in the control subjects (P = 0.02). The most frequent rheumatologic complications were degenerative diseases of joints and spine. There was no significant difference in inflammatory disease between the two groups, but there were more rheumatoid arthritis patients among the victims. Higher ANA titers may indicate some autoimmune disorders as late rheumatic complications of SM.

Physical activity of the civilian chemical victims of Sardasht 20 years after sulfur mustard exposure

Sulfur mustard was employed as a chemical warfare agent by the Iraqi forces in the borderline regions of Iran during the Iraq-Iran war (1980–1988). The short- and long-term biological effects of sulfur mustard agent have been studied in both basic and clinical aspects. One organ that was primarily affected was the respiratory system. Among the adults, regular physical activity positively affects the respiratory system as well as the individual’s ability to perform important daily tasks. We investigated the self reported physical activity in chemical victims 20 years after sulfur mustard exposure, compared the data with those of the matched counterparts, and explored any potential association with BMI. The exposed group was 357 and the control group was 125 individuals. Physical activity was measured using the global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ) that evaluates work, recreational, transport and sitting activities. A significant difference was found between the control and exposed groups in terms of total physical activity MET (metabolic equivalent), total physical activity min/week and total transport-related physical activity min/week in BMI >30 kg/m2. In addition, total work-related physical activity showed a significant difference between the control and exposed groups with BMI <25 kg/m2. The results show that a significant correlation was present between the increase of body weight and the reduction of total physical activity and MET in exposed group 20 years after sulfur mustard exposure.

Late laryngeal findings in sulfur mustard poisoning

Introduction. Sulfur mustard is an alkylating warfare agent and its inhalation results in early and late toxic effects. This agent was used widely against both military and civilian population by Iraqi forces in the Iran–Iraq war (1983–88). The purpose of the study was to describe abnormal laryngeal findings in a group of chemical war injury patients (soldiers) 20 years after an acute exposure to sulfur mustard. Methods. In this observational case series study, 50 male patients who were suffering from chronic respiratory symptoms and because of exacerbation of these problems, were consecutively selected and clinically examined for dysphonia by a speech-language pathologist, and then underwent fiberoptic laryngobronchoscopy to describe anatomical and functional pathologic findings of the larynx. Results. In objective speech evaluation, different degrees of dysphonia including harshness and hoarseness were observed in 46% of patients. Inflammation was present in supraglottic and subglottic regions of 9 (18%) and 3 (6%) patients, respectively. Hyperfunction of the false vocal cords was observed in 24 (48%) patients. Conclusion. Chronic laryngitis was seen in a considerable number of exposed victims nearly 20 years after exposure, in spite of different treatments received.

Can Hearts and Minds Be Bought? The Economics of Counterinsurgency in Iraq

We develop and test an economic theory of insurgency motivated by the informal literature and by recent military doctrine. We model a three-way contest between violent rebels, a government seeking to minimize violence by mixing service provision and coercion, and civilians deciding whether to share information about insurgents. We test the model using panel data from Iraq on violence against Coalition and Iraqi forces, reconstruction spending, and community characteristics (sectarian status, socioeconomic grievances, and natural resource endowments). Our results support the theory’s predictions: improved service provision reduces insurgent violence, particularly for smaller projects and since the “surge” began in 2007.

The United States and counterinsurgency: ‘political first, political last, political always’

According to the status of forces agreement signed by Iraq and the United States in November 2008, US troops are to be withdrawn entirely from Iraq by the end of 2011. A few days later it was also revealed that the British force in Iraq, numbering about 4,100 troops, will be reduced to a contingent of just a few hundred military advisors by summer 2009. The counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan, on the other hand, is to be intensified in the form of a ‘surge’ in military and political effort. Counterinsurgency operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq have long been at the centre of the security policy debate in the United States and elsewhere; a debate which seems unlikely to be resolved in the near future. But what exactly is counterinsurgency? This article offers some reflections on the practice and the politics of an especially complex form of military engagement. All military activity should be understood through the prism of politics, and counterinsurgency particularly so.

Coverage of the pre-Iraq War debate as a case study of frame indexing

This study examined critical coverage, substantive news frames, and news sources in The New York Times and Washington Post coverage of the pre-Iraq War debate. This content analysis evaluated media coverage before and after Congress passed the resolution that authorized the use of military force in Iraq. Results demonstrated that Congressional consensus was related to diminished frequencies of critical and substantively framed paragraphs in coverage yet the ongoing international debate sustained relatively more intense levels of critical coverage after the resolution passed than before. Substantively framed coverage, however, declined across all source types and levels of measurement after the Congressional resolution. In sum, the observed increase in the level of consensus within the US government seemed to influence coverage of the pre-Iraq War debate as it continued within and among other groups, such that substantive news frames were indexed to this shift in the tone, intensity, and focus of the policy debate. These findings therefore suggest a level of integration between indexing and framing in which an increased level of official consensus may be predictive of not only certain tones of coverage but also certain news frames being adopted over others.

Who is Jack Bauer?

Who is Jack Bauer?

NATO'S 60th Birthday Party

Abstract The site selected for marking NATO's 60th birthday party next year suggests the direction in which the organization has developed since the anniversary of its first half-century was celebrated in the U.S. capital 10 years ago. The developments that characterized the decade between both celebrations was marked by the attacks of 9/11; the menace of Islamic fundamentalism; the decision to use force in Iraq, which precipitated the split between Europe and the United States; and the rise of the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China)—all expressions of a change in the balance of power. To determine how to deal with that change and define the relationship between the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) and NATO, Europeans and Americans are planning a series of meetings. This analysis concludes by recommending that they, like the next president of the United States, give priority to discussing the efficacy of establishing a mechanism to facilitate those meetings, which are crucial to str...